90s tennis was just ace feast and serve-and-volley (they say)

[Robert F]

i have posted this video before, please see for yourself what 90s tennis looked like from the back........the point construction and stuff, this wasn't even from the top players back then........no wonder federer found arazi difficult in 2002 roland garros and lost in the first round........

Interesting that the ball seemed fairly slow. I don't think they sped up the clay, I think today's guys hit the ball harder and heavier. Hence the game is faster on clay not because of the surface but because of the hitting. Whereas on the other surfaces, they have slowed down, giving guys time to tee up on the ball.

I like all types of tennis, and appreciate what the current guys can do physically but there doesn't seem to be a tons of variety. Either have a big serve or have steady groundies.

 

[Stannis Baratheon]

Interesting that the ball seemed fairly slow. I don't think they sped up the clay, I think today's guys hit the ball harder and heavier. Hence the game is faster on clay not because of the surface but because of the hitting. Whereas on the other surfaces, they have slowed down, giving guys time to tee up on the ball.

One word: poly.
Clay tennis used to be soooo bad in the the old days with endless rallies that was almost all pushing because with wooden or graphite racquets there was little chance of hitting through your opponents.
But with the advent of poly strings clay tennis reached the perfect combination.
Better racquets were destroying HCs and grass ofcourse coz it was getting too easy to end the points with the serve or in the rally hence the slowing down of the courts which worked out great.
I think the fastest HC these days has the perfect speed and the slowest HC has the perfect speed. We just need to have a good proportion of both types rather than moast of them being slower ones. If IW is slow, make Miami fast like Shanghai.

 

[cortado]

For all this talk of 90s serve-botting, I keep getting 90s ATP tour finals videos popping up on youtube, and the rallies are long, and crazy.

 

[tonylg]

For all this talk of 90s serve-botting, I keep getting 90s ATP tour finals videos popping up on youtube, and the rallies are long, and crazy.

Here's a couple of servebots playing on fast carpet without poly:

 

[Dolgopolov85]

Here's a couple of servebots playing on fast carpet without poly:

And the interesting thing is you will find even THEM playing out rallies in there but oh, look for volleys in Murrovic at Wimbledon 2013 and...

 

[Dolgopolov85]

90 was diverse as hell. And what 90s exposed is that sports fans are lazy and want the dynamic of the same guys matching up in most of the major tournaments. They couldn't get behind AO and RG being virtually a lottery even as Sampras dominated Wimbledon uninterrupted and USO too was divvied up between him and other multiple title winners (Edberg, Agassi and Rafter). Supposedly not having a clue as to who would win RG should have been exciting given all the moaning we hear today about Big Three domination. Instead people complained about the lack of rivalries. That is why, after the 90s, the tournaments began to game the show to induce rivalries rather than leave it to the game to organically evolve.

 

[Robert F]

Unfortunately, it is much easier for a fan to follow a constant winner then to enjoy the competition of several greats with different talents and aptitudes.
On paper you think the game would prosper from a highly competitive top 20. You'd think fans would learn who the top 20 was, instead they lose interest until a clear champion rises or a great rivalry. ATP has fed off the Big 3 and the WTA still sits on the legacy Serena captured even though it has slowed in the past what 3-5 years.

 

[mattennis]

Another ace-feast from the nineties...

And who can forget this epic one?